Inland Northwest Hay Weather

Just a quick update to the forecast for the upcoming week. We’re still looking at a small chance of showers and thunderstorms tonight and Sunday.   Here’s what the radar may look like later tonight. Could be some nocturnal lightning. The rain should stay south and east of Spokane.  Then Sunday afternoon we will see a few showers and thunderstorms north and east of Spokane.  Monday through Wednesday afternoon will see a similar low chance of thunderstorms.  We’ll see warming temperatures through the week, with our first 90F day of the summer by the end of the week.  Afternoons will be breezy and we should see some light dew each morning, until the weekend when things get a bit drier.  The 4-corners high looks like it will become established. That signals the start of summer. The Climate Prediction Center agrees. 

On this chilly late-June day, I thought you might like to see a warmer forecast. If so, you’re in luck. The long range computer forecasts are trending warmer. Instead of a cool and showery Fourth, it may be rather warm and dry.  First let’s take a look at the next few days. Our Thursday showers will quickly exit for a dry and warmer Friday and Saturday. There still is a weak weather system expected for Sunday and Monday, but the chances of rain with it have diminished. Here’s the probability from the European computers. About 10% for Spokane, and 40% for the mountainous areas to the north and east.   Or to look at it for Deer Park specifically.  You can see that after Sunday and Monday, we don’t see much threat of rain for the rest of next week. The reason is that high pressure will develop off shore and start to nudge into the inland northwest.  This could bring a warming trend next week. Temperatures will be in the 80s and could be pushing 90 by the end of the week.  For those who ar

Not a lot has changed with the forecast from my previous blog.  Wednesday - clouds will start to increase around sunrise. This could inhibit dew formation Wednesday morning. Sprinkles or light rain showers and thunderstorms are possible Wednesday and Wednesday  night. About a 10% chance of rain. A much better chance of showers in the Cascades and western Basin. It will be breezy in the afternoon and overnight.  High in the mid 80s.  Thursday - it will be windy starting in the morning. So don’t expect much if any dew.  Showers will develop in the morning and expand in the afternoon. Chance of rain about 60% north and east of Spokane, 30% chance to the south and west. High temperature in the lower 70s.  Friday - much less clouds and wind with a 20% chance of showers. Highs mid 70s.  Here’s the latest rainfall forecasts. All fairly similar.  After this system exits our area on Friday, we’ll warm back into the lower 80s by Saturday. But computer confidence is increasing for rain showers on

Our dry weekend cool front has moved through giving us our expected windy Sunday. Monday will drop back into the 70s but that doesn’t last long as high pressure will bring us right back into the 80s for Tuesday and Wednesday. This is ahead of the next Pacific weather system due arrive on Thursday. Tuesday and Wednesday morning should have light winds and dew points in the 40s so expect a light to moderate dew. As we talked about in the previous blog, this next weather system will go right over us, instead of moving by to our north like this weekend system did. And the difference in track will mean a difference in weather. Instead of just wind like we got on Sunday, the system on Thursday will bring us the threat of rain showers. The probability of showers has been increasing, now above 50%. You can see in the graphic above that there actually is a small chance of rain on Wednesday.  This would mainly be from sprinkles ahead of the front and shouldn’t amount to much if any rain.  But a

I know everyone is busy with this great haying weather, so I’ll keep it short. The forecast I outlined in the last blog has actually changed very little. Saturday will be our warmest day, with highs in the upper 80s to around 90.  A Pacific weather system will move by to our north on Sunday. This pattern is a dry and breezy one.  Sunday breezes should provide good hay drying weather. If you’re planning to bale Sunday night or Monday morning, the wind may inhibit dew formation.  The wind probably won’t blow all night.  But just be aware that dew may be a little less than the previous mornings. After that, high pressure quickly returns for the first half of next week, with temperatures warming back into the mid 80s by Wednesday.  This is ahead of another Pacific low.  This low will take a path right over us.  Compare the weather map below to the first image above. This trajectory means showers for the end of next week.  It doesn’t look like a wet pattern at this point  but you may want t

After our mid-June cool spell, things are expected to warm up. But for how long?  First, we’ll have one more day of afternoon showers to deal with on Tuesday, similar to what we saw on Monday. Then, high pressure should build over the area for increasing warmth and a gradual end to the showers.  Temperatures will reach the mid to upper 80s by Saturday.  Dew points should be in the low 40s, which should be enough for a light dew each morning. But then you can see temperatures cooling on Sunday apinto early next week.  This is due to yet another Pacific storm system.  At this point, this system looks rather dry. Precipitation chances are very low.  You’ll notice that the chances do increase by the end of next week.  Also, there will be some breezy winds when this dry front moves in on Sunday and Monday. 

Our expected windy days have arrived, ushering in a rather cool low pressure system into the Northwest this weekend.  Daytime temperatures will be in the 60s, with overnight lows dropping into the mid-30s Sunday morning and possibly Monday morning. By Monday, here's what the weather map will look like.  Cold low pressure in the West, hot high pressure in the East.  This is pretty much the opposite of what we normally see in the summer. The cool weather in the West won't make any news headlines, except for some snow in Montana and the high mountains.  But the news will be all over the heat back East.  Below is a map of forecast high temperatures for next Wednesday that will approach or break daily record highs.  Of course, it will be rather humid as well, with nighttime low temperatures in the 70s. For our area, we'll see showers this weekend, mainly on Saturday.  Here's the European model forecast for Saturday and Saturday evening.  These are going to be showers, so don

If wind is what you like, then you're in luck, because there's more wind on the way.  But first, we'll have another chilly night tonight.  Yesterday's dry cold front brought in some very dry air behind it.  This allowed our temperature to drop into the upper 30s this morning in a few locations.  Deer Park airport only had a maximum relative humidity of 66% this morning.  Hard to have much dew in those conditions..  For Thursday morning expect temperatures to be in the mid-to-upper 30s in many locations.  I would expect there to be more dew tonight. A stronger area of low pressure will then start drop into our area starting Friday.   The clouds ahead of this front will keep our temperatures mild Thursday night (45-50F) and the wind will start up early Friday morning.  Both of these are bad for dew formation Friday morning. Speaking of the wind.  Friday's wind will be similar to yesterday (Tuesday), but probably not quite as gusty.  Saturday will a tad windier than Fr

The weak weather system passed through our area today, giving very little rainfall to the northern counties and Waterville Plateau area, with only sprinkles elsewhere. So now lets look at the week ahead.  Not a lot has changed with the forecast from the previous blogs.  High pressure will quickly rebuild over the area to keep our temperatures near 80 through the week (red line).  But our atmosphere will dry out as dew points drop into the 30s (black line).  A dry cool front will bring gusty winds to us on Tuesday, along with much drier air.  Things will be calmer by Thursday but then we'll see breezy days for the end of the week as a cool area of low pressure settles into the area.  This combination of breezy winds and low dew points could have an effect on the morning dew.  If you are trying to bale hay and your field is in a sheltered area (doesn't typically get much wind) then you should be fine. Another aspect of the dry air is cooler morning low temperatures.  Thursday mor